UPDATE: GiftCard.com Purchased For $4 Million Dollars Cash Plus Stock

We wrote earlier today about GiftCard.com selling according to a press release for $4 million dollars.

The PR chatted about stock plus cash but the buyer of the domain has confirmed that $4 Million in cash was paid for the domain, with the stock being a kicker (extra) compensation.

This therefore becomes the highest domain sale of 2012.

Here is the release:

“”Gift CardLab, a leading online provider of gift cards, today announced the purchase of the GiftCard.com domain. Gift CardLab will now use the GiftCard.com domain as its primary URL, where customers can search for and purchase store Gift Cards, e-Gift Cards, Customizable Gift Cards and Corporate Incentive Cards.”

“According to Domain Industry News Magazine, the most paid for a domain this year through September 23rd, 2012 was personalloans.com for one million dollars. “

“Purchased for over four million dollars, giftcard.com will now go down in history as one of the most expensive domain names ever purchased.”

“The GiftCard.com domain and brand is the crown jewel of the $100 Billion gift card market,” said David Jones, CEO, Gift CardLab. “As we continue our rapid expansion in the gift card industry, the GiftCard.com domain and brand will provide a unique marketing advantage.”

“GiftCard.com is growing at a rapid pace, doubling its staff within the last 12 months and approaching $100 Million in gift card sales.”

“After moving to the GiftCard.com domain, the company expects to reach 100% year-over-year growth, providing the Dallas workforce with new and exciting career opportunities.”

About Michael Berkens

Michael Berkens, Esq. is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheDomains.com. Michael is also the co-founder of Worldwide Media Inc. which owns around 80K domain names and whose retail site is at MostWantedDomains.com. Michael is also a Director of RightoftheDot.com which is a consultant in the new gTLD space and a broker of super premium domains. Michael Is also one of the 5 Judges selected for the the Verisign 30th Anniversary .Com contest at #Internetofficial

According to CrunchBase, they had received $4.5 million in venture capital funding in 2006-2007, and also raised $3 million in debt this past July. Perhaps a portion of that debt financing was used to acquire the domain name, with equity tossed in to sweeten the deal?

one time a fella sent me a gift card for five million dollars… turned out it was a joke… but i figured it was when i got it so i wasn’t that upset. he was a professional comedian for awhile but he gave it up… mostly ’cause his jokes weren’t funny.

Let me get this straight – A company puts out a news release claiming they purchased something for $Millions. It is “verified” by checking with the company who published the news release in the first place?

What would be the purpose of a company issuing a news release disclosing the purchase price of a domain name?

Exactly. That is why these types of news releases are questionable because they are meant for publicity.

No company would want to publicize they paid a large sume for a domain because the next time they try to buy a domain the seller may raise the price. This is why these news releases do not make sense and are not credible.

Late yesterday I got an e-mail offering Price.com … for min bid $4.5 Million. What a coincidence!

Help.org wrote:
“No company would want to publicize they paid a large sume for a domain because the next time they try to buy a domain the seller may raise the price.”

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What _might_ happen in the future isn’t worth worrying about. What’s important now is getting the word out, and the fact that they disclosed how much was paid brings far more attention and validation to their business. Worrying about any negatives that may occur in the future, caused by what one might do today, is what keeps most people ‘stuck’ in life.

“And mess with the I.R.S? I don’t think so.” there is no IRS regulation about news releases. Do you get to see their tax returns? No. can the IRS use a marketing news release as evidence of a money trasfer? No.

“the fact that they disclosed how much was paid brings far more attention and validation to their business.” Facts? Really? How do you know that? Besides, how many people would go out and buy a gift card from because they heard they paid alot for a domain? It does promote their URL and give some back links but that is what makes the whole thing questionable.

Help.org, for some reason, I don’t think any explanation is going to satisfy you. It’s their business why they did it, and it doesn’t affect you in any way, so it probably would be best just to let it go at that.